It’s A New World

I already know that I’m an old fart, but sometimes that message is driven home in ways that I don’t expect. I’ve shared stories with you before about my days in the car sales business, and while that only lasted a year or so, I learned an awful lot about not only the industry but about people.

But it’s a new world these days. You don’t have to go to a car dealer and haggle with a salesman to buy a new or used car anymore. When our neighbor Jennifer told us that her daughter Ashley was looking for a late-model used car, and that she had settled on a Toyota Camry, she went online and bought it from Carvana. Yesterday afternoon a Carvana auto hauler pulled up in front of her house with her new ride!

It took just a few minutes for the driver to get it offloaded and parked in the driveway, then he gave Ashley the keys, and he was gone.

Here she is looking very pleased with her new car. There is a return policy if she’s not happy with it for any reason, but from what I saw, I think it’s a pretty good ride, and knowing how level-headed Ashley is, I’m sure she got a good deal on it, too. Here’s wishing you many, many miles of safe and happy travels, Ashley.

Speaking of new world things, I mentioned a while back that I was interested in virtual reality, and I have a plot in mind for one of my John Lee Quarrels books that revolves around it. When I started to research the subject, I became very interested in all that VR offers. I thought it was just something for gamers, but as it turns out, there are many other interesting things you can do with virtual reality.

You can watch TV shows, movies, concerts, and documentaries in 3D, including some amazing free National Geographic VR offerings. When you find yourself on foot in the middle of a herd of elephants, with them walking all around you, you can really believe that you are right there with them. Virtual reality also can be used for meetings, and psychologists are using it to help people overcome phobias. It is definitely groundbreaking technology.

I ordered an Oculus Quest 2 virtual reality headset from Amazon, and it came a few days ago. I haven’t had time to do much with it yet, but from what little I have experienced, it’s even more amazing than I thought it would be.

With a program called Wander, I was able to walk down the street that I lived on when I was in high school, amazed by all the changes since then, including the fact that all but one of the houses on my block and all the houses across the street are gone now. Then I went back and visited the United States Military Academy at West Point, where I spent some time as a young soldier. With VR and Wander, you can visit just about any place in the world without leaving your recliner. Want to go to Times Square or see the pyramids of Egypt? Wander can put you right there in a 3D, 160-degree environment. I’m sure I’ll be telling you more about it after I have had more time to experiment with it.

In the meantime, I’ve got a book to finish, and yesterday I made corrections to nine chapters in my new Tinder Street book that Judy had proofread and suggested and then sent them off to Roberta, my third proofreader. Then I went online to double-check some information about a violent strike that took place in Toledo, Ohio, during the Great Depression and wrote another 3,000 plus words, read them over, and printed them out for Miss Terry to edit and proofread.

I knocked off just in time to have a delicious dinner of Terry’s homemade shepherd’s pie, and later on a hot slice of freshly baked banana bread for dessert. A nice reward for a day well spent.

I plan to get some more writing done today, but we also want to clean the boat up after Sunday’s fishing expedition and get the cover back on it. This evening we’re going to a town planning and zoning commission meeting about a new development they want to build next to us, trying to learn more about what they have in mind.

I spent a few years on a planning and zoning commission back before we became fulltime RVers, and I know it can sometimes be difficult trying to find a balance between what is best for the community, fair to the people who want permission to go forward with a project, and at the same time fair for their neighbors, whose lives may be impacted by it.

Unfortunately, as with many places, here on Florida’s Central Coast, the developers seem hell-bent on chopping down every tree and paving over every blade of grass, all in the name of progress. Locals, especially folks who grew up here, are sad to see their little beach communities changing so much, and the town councils in Edgewater and New Smyrna Beach both don’t seem to be listening to what the people want. I guess we’ll see what happens.

And finally, here’s a chuckle to start your day from the collection of funny signs we see in our travels and that our readers share with us. Seriously, can you blame a business for putting up a sign like this? Boobs are great, but boob sweat is something else entirely.

Thought For The Day – If you love someone, let them nap.